Yard Sale Entertainment

Nature's shades of green are dynamic this overcast morning.  The slightest breeze makes some leaves dance, others stay on the sidelines watching.

Gotta share the fun we had yesterday.  Our afternoon trolley took us to three yard sales that were advertised in the local paper.  Friday afternoon sales are perfectly timed, cuz we grab our evening meal  on the way home.

The first sale we went to had really good stuff.  By that I mean the items were expensive the first time around, and the sellers were offering them the second time around at minimal price.  After years of visiting garage and yard sales, one learns what's a good deal and what's not.

Most yard sale sellers put their books in boxes in one section of their display.  This particular sale did it differently by putting a few books on each table, sorted by writing style.  Some were for kids, some for men, some for women.  When my eyes clammed onto the author's name 'Barbara Kingsolver,' I found the mother lode.

The first book was titled, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."  Original price $14.95, sale price 50 cents.  352 pages that tells how the author and her family set out to live a rural life, growing and eating only their own local foods.

Kingsolver's second book, "The Poisonwood Bible," is a novel of 543 pages.  Book store price $26, sale price 50 cents.  The story takes place in 1959 in the Belgian Congo.  A Baptist preacher takes his wife and four daughters to a remote village to convert the natives to Christianity.

Book three, "The Book of Ruth," is the first novel written by Jane Hamilton, who writes from her orchard home in Wisconsin.  Original price $11.95, sale price 50 cents.

Book four, "The Book of Virtues," is a hard cover, 818-page, collection of morality, goodness, and right thinking.  Its content is built around the old-fashioned, outdated, principle that a person's character matters.  It is promoted to "hum with moral energy."  Original price $26, sale price $1.

The fifth book to go in our plastic Walmart sack was a Sudoku puzzle book for hubby. Original price $5.95, sale price 25 cents.

Let's tally these prices up.  To buy these books at a  book store would cost $84.85.  We paid $2.75.  A savings of $82.10.

Not only that, but hubby was in need of some paint to finish one of his outdoor projects.  He noticed two partial gallons of paint (just the colors he had in mind) sitting in the driveway.  He asked the price and was told, "free...just take em."  We saved another $30+ on the paint.  That kicked our savings up to $112.10.

Now...which book should I read first.  Hmmmm.  All four of my books are in pristine condition and are tempting me like a box of chocolates.  Hubby can't wait to stir his paint and get out his brush. Guess it's pretty obvious that it doesn't take a whole lot of money for the two of us to have a whole lot of fun.